Be the One to Fall
by Demelza
Summary: The only escape for Faith after three nights of terror and pain comes when Bosco takes her to his Uncle's cabin to get away from it all.


**Title:** Be the One to Fall**  
Author:** Demelza**  
Email:** demelza81@yahoo.co.nz**  
Disclaimer:** The Third Watch characters and place names used here in this story belong to NBC, WB and its other owners. Deliver Me lyrics are the property of Sarah Brightman. No infringements on any of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission. All new characters belong to me. You are welcome to use them anywhere, especially Simon Doyle, he's a right bastard and may be done with as pleased.**  
Warnings:** This story deals with the issue of kidnapping and torture, and also contains offensive language, violence, and sexual content. R rating advised (for this part).**  
Author's Notes:** This story is a complete work of fiction and it is not the author's intention to contain any likeness to other stories written in the Third Watch fandom. Also, have I mentioned yet how much Simon Doyle is a bastard and can be done with as pleased? I am extremely serious about this, and if anyone wants to take me up on this offer, I would like to read what you write. =)**  
Summary:** The only escape for Faith after three nights of terror and pain comes when Bosco takes her to his Uncle's cabin to get away from it all.  
  
  
* * * *  
**  
Manhattan, NYC  
January 9th 2004**  
  
Faith's eyes shot open, her heart pounding as she was suddenly awoken from a nightmare that up until the moment she was torn from her sleep she had thought was real. The screams of horror and pain echoing in her mind as she looked about her dark apartment, wanting and begging to know why it was the images of blood and violent attacks stabbed at her mind. Two and a half weeks non-stop called into homicide cases. She and Bosco had had their hands full the entire time, case after case. Six months as detective's in the same division, and they were in the deep of it all. She closed her eyes, cursing the sick bastard that had decided to reign his wave of terror onto the Manhattan streets.  
  
And then came his death, a woman he'd kidnapped who had set her sights on wanting to live. She broke out of her captor's clutches, a bloodied sheet her only form of clothing as she ran free in the streets, rain thundering down around her as the chase went on. The images, sounds of the woman's screams echoing in Faith's mind and she instantly looked at her hand resting on the pillow beneath her head. Scarred and bruised. It had been her. She was the woman. She was the one that escaped from Simon Doyle, a sick son of a bitch who took her from her apartment three nights ago. Still it was in her mind, his hands tearing at her clothing, groping her body.  
  
Faith closed her eyes, fear soaring through her as she opened her eyes once more and let the tears fall effortlessly down her cheeks. She could barely remember what happened next, a blur, a mist covering the truth. But she knew the truth; she had been told it in grave certainty. She knew that it had been Bosco who pulled the trigger just as Doyle had tackled her to the ground, the water on the ground soaking through to her skin. She shuddered in thought, more tears coming and she closed her eyes, forcing what tears were in them out. All the pain, the cuts and bruises sending reminder after reminder of the nights she'd spent in the ice cold apartment Doyle had called home for so many months now. And the room he had kept her in...nothing more than a seamless pit of dark horror with a shattered window set high against the ceiling as the only source of light.  
  
Thoughts bombarding her, flashes of images and sounds, the screams, the pain, the sound of his voice lisping against her ear. She winced in pain, everything fading into darkness as she willed herself to forget. Her mind letting go of its thoughts and leaving her senseless body to live it's life...she fell asleep.  
  
**  
Deliver me, out of my sadness  
Deliver me, from all of the madness**  
  
"Wow, would you look at the sky, it's beautiful!"  
**  
Deliver me, courage to guide me  
Deliver me, strength from inside me**  
  
Faith recognized the voice, but she couldn't get around the blockade that stopped her from reaching out and grabbing the memory that let her know who he was. His voice though, was soft and gentle, a reminder of trust and warmth she had always felt when around him.  
**  
All of my life, I've been in hiding  
Wishing there was someone just like you**  
  
She opened her eyes; she was lying flat on her back, her hands resting on her stomach as she gazed at the sky above. The branches of a tree swayed gently overhead, the clear blue backdrop and bright sunshine the sky provided giving it an awesome glow that made it seem familiar, like the day she had spent living countless times before in her dreams.  
**  
Now that you're here, now that I've found you  
I know that you're the one to pull me through**  
  
Standing up from the ground, her dress of light cream and pale blue and yellow flowers falling just below her knees from her lap and wrapping warmly around her legs. She looked over to the tree behind her. Leaning up against the trunk was a handsome man. She walked over to him, wondering who was he. She couldn't access the part of her memory that would let her know who he was, no matter how many times she tried. She couldn't penetrate the barriers that held her heart at bay. Looking over him, a sudden familiarity overwhelmed her like the gentleness of a small white feather floating to the ground on a light windy day. He was tall, his auburn hair blowing about the strong chiseled features of his face. His eyes were warm and welcoming as he gazed up at the sky, a tranquil smile on his lips.  
**  
Deliver me, loving and caring  
Deliver me, giving and sharing  
Deliver me, cross that I'm bearing**  
  
I know you, don't I? She asked in her mind.  
**  
All of my life, I was in hiding  
Wishing there was someone just like you**  
  
He shifted his gaze from the heavens above and looked over at her, his eyes reflecting the love she suddenly knew she held for him, "Yes," he replied, "You do."  
**  
Now that you're here, now that I've found you  
I know that you're the one to pull me through**  
  
She gave him a smile, "And, I love you"  
**  
Deliver me  
Deliver me  
Deliver me  
Deliver me  
Oh deliver me**  
  
"Just like I do you." He whispered back.  
**  
All of my life, I was in hiding  
Wishing there was someone just like you**  
  
She remembered now, "Bosco?" Faith asked gently, as if she could hardly believe it were truly him after an eternity of being apart. "I can't believe you're here..." She told him.  
**  
Now that you're here, now that I've found you  
I know that you're the one to pull me through**  
  
He pushed himself away from the tree with his right foot and walked over to where she stood. He took a step closer to her, so close she could swear she was hearing his heart beating in his chest. "I'm always here..." he said, his voice so soft. Tender. He stepped even closer and touched her face tenderly before gently tracing his finger down to the base of her neck, he leant forward. "Whenever you need me" He whispered, so quietly and with love for her ears only.  
**  
Deliver me  
Deliver me  
Deliver me  
Oh deliver me**  
  
As Bosco leant closer to her, their bodies gently touching, Faith felt her eyes drifting shut, and then his lips pressing warmly against hers in a gentle kiss. "ForeverI promise," he smiled, his hand touching her cheek.  
**  
Deliver me  
Won't you deliver me?**  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Opening her eyes proved painful, the sunlight was streaming in through the bedroom window causing Faith to wince. A dream, she told herself, the same dream she had had constantly in the recent nights. A calling, her escape from the torture and all the pain. Images of her children flashed in her mind and she recalled how they too had been what kept her alive in there. What kept her wanting to live.  
  
She stared at the clock on the bedside table and a tear instantly formed in her eyes as parts of her reflection glowed back at her in the digital clock face. 'You let him in, it's all your fault.' Fred's voice, taunting her when he visited her in hospital the night before, refusing to let her see her children. 'You shouldn't get to see them again, not after you invite a man like that into your apartment willingly!'  
  
Had she really done that? Had she willingly let him into her apartment? She closed her eyes, remembering how she had tiredly gone to her door dressed in her pajamas in the dead of the night to find a man standing in front of her, cradling his arm. 'You're a cop, aren't you? I need your help...' Doyle's voice as he pleaded with her. A stranger to her, not knowing that he was the suspect they had been unable to identify in all of their cases. The memory flashed in her mind in vivid clarity as she stepped aside and let him into her apartment. And then the moment when it had happened came rushing back to her. She had had her back on him for only a few seconds as she was rummaging through the closet on the far wall trying to find the first-aid kit when she felt a sudden blow to the back of her head and she dropped to the floor. Everything echoed around her, her vision blurred as Doyle rolled her onto her back and sat on her stomach, laughing at her.  
  
Faith forced her eyes wide open; more tears flowing down her cheeks. She went to roll onto her back when instead she pushed the blankets off her and sat up quickly, blood rushing to her head. I won't let him get to me... she tried to assure herself as she rose to her feet, wincing from the pain in them.  
  
Faith looked over her shoulder as she ran away from Doyle, he was only two or three meters away from her now and she could feel his angered eyes rip at her very soul. Her heart pounding, strong beat after beat, she clutched the sheet covered in her blood closer to her. Then, suddenly she felt a large blow to her back and he had tackled her to the ground. She scrambled with her arms to reach ahead of her, clawing at the ground to escape from him. A loud bang rang through the air and his dead weight fell on her. Sob after sob came, and then the voice she had prayed to God she would hear again echoed through the air.  
  
"Faith!"  
  
"Bosco..." she cried out, tears blurring her vision as he rushed over to her, pulling Doyle off her. Unable to hold onto consciousness, her face fell to the ground and everything went dark around her.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Faith stood in front of the full body mirror in front of her, hardly able to recognize herself beyond the bruises covering her face, arms and torso. She took in a breath as she pulled the cream blouse up over her arms, wincing as the material rubbed against the fresh grazes covering her forearms. And then again as the collar touched the back of her neck.   
  
'Now how is it you and your partner couldn't find me...I gave the two of you enough hints...' Doyle stated, sitting on the chair in front of the one he had Faith tied to. He twisted the knife in his hand around in circular motion several times, fury in his eyes. 'Hell I carved it into the back of those stupid bitches necks! SIMON SAYS! But maybe that wasn't enough...' he said, as if thinking. 'How about we try a new hint with you, surely your partner can figure this one out...' he said, suddenly rising from his chair and kicking it out from under him as he rushed over to Faith and stood behind her, roughly shoving her head forward.  
  
Faith jolted, still staring into the mirror, her hands gently touching the dried up scars Doyle had cut into the back of her neck. She slowly moved her hands, lifting her hair out from under her collar and let it flow down her back and shoulders. She lowered her hands, trembling, and rested her right one on her bare stomach just below the purple and black mass of bruises and she took in another breath, visibly able to see the imprints of his knuckles on her skin where he had punched her. She flinched and closed her eyes tight, feeling as if he was standing there. A shiver down her spine and her eyes opened slowly, fear instantly setting in as she stared into the mirror. He stood there, a shimmering mirage grinning sadistically at her; promises of torture in his green eyes, taunting words near being uttered perched on his twisted lips. Her eyes drifted shut again and she told herself it wasn't real, he wasn't there. A mantra, over and over, and she opened them again. A sweet release being sighed, when suddenly there was a knock on the door to her apartment, making her jump.  
  
Startled with fear, Faith buttoned her blouse and left the room. She was walking to the door when she stopped in her tracks; the fear flooding all over her again and she went for the gun on the coat rack beneath her jacket. She pulled it from the holster and cocked it, taking in a breath and holding it as she approached the door. "Who's there?" She asked, surprised at how much her voice was trembling.  
  
"It's me, Faith...Bosco..."  
  
Closing her eyes, she let out the breath she was holding and went for the door, quickly releasing each of the three locks. She pulled the door open, relieved to actually see Bosco standing there, sad look on his face.  
  
"I ah...went to go visit you at the hospital...but they said you'd left," he said, his concern showing.  
  
She stepped aside and let him in, closing the door behind him after he came inside. "I signed myself out..."  
  
"That a good idea?"  
  
Faith sighed, "Please...just don't...don't lecture me...I can't take much more of it."  
  
He went to say something back when she turned and headed for the kitchen. He looked down at the ground momentarily, before following behind her. "How are you feeling?"  
  
She looked over at him, picking at the fingernail of her left forefinger. "I'm fine, like I told you and the detectives last night."  
  
Bosco stared at her, "You're acting like nothing happened."  
  
"Nothing did," she told him, gaze dropping to the linoleum floor beneath them. "I'm alive, aren't I?"  
  
"The doc says he hurt you pretty bad."  
  
"I'm fine," she replied, sharply. She looked up at him again, sniffing. "I'm fine, Boz."  
  
"If you believed that, you would have only said it once," he told her. "You want to talk about what happened?"  
  
She looked down at the floor again, "No."  
  
Bosco nodded, looking down at the floor for a moment too, before lifting his gaze to look at her. "Captain says you wouldn't take time off, wanting to come back to work today."  
  
"Yeah, well he turned me down," she quietly replied, sounding disappointed, still looking at the floor. She heard a sigh and knew Bosco well enough to know he thought she should take the time off, too. She looked up at him, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Every minute I spend just sitting idly, I think about what happens...and by not working...I need to work."  
  
"Come on, Faith, you've been through a tough ordeal, give yourself time..."  
  
"Time? Bosco, I was the one that let him in the door! I was the one that invited him in to kidnap me!"  
  
"You're blaming yourself?" He asked back, disbelief in his voice as she nodded. "It's not your fault, Faith..."  
  
She lowered her gaze, "I should have been more cautious," she said, sadly.  
  
Bosco shook his head, "We're cautious every day of our job. If anything, it shouldn't have happened to you for that reason. "  
  
Faith stared at him, "We're not invulnerable, Bosco," she replied, swallowing. She wet her lips and cleared her throat slightly, "Even with our badges, and guns...especially because we have them, we can't think we're not as susceptible to life, and death as everyone else."  
  
"Well it shouldn't be that way. We're the ones that try to stop this type of thing happening every damn day of our job. The badge, the gun, that's supposed to tell the bad guys they can't get to us," he replied, pain in his own voice.  
  
"In my experience, it doesn't matter who you are, whether or not you've got a badge and a gun...we're all gonna die."  
  
"Die?"  
  
She nodded, "Yeah, die," she stated. "When I was in that room...that's all I could think about, dying...because it would have ended all the pain I felt, am still feeling. " A silent moment and Faith shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. She went to wipe them away when Bosco placed his hand over hers to stop her. She stared at him, her chest heaving as she tried to suppress a sob. "I wanted to die in there, Boz...you have no idea what that was like. Being in there...his hands all over me...his breath..." she cringed in thought, closing her eyes tight. "I'll never forget the smell of his breath...and him. I just want it all out of my head...I want the constant feeling of his hands crawling over my skin to go away. I want it all to just go away," she cried, squeezing her eyes shut.  
  
Bosco stepped up to her, placing his hands on her shoulders to assure her. "It will, I promise it will...you'll never have to think about him and what he did ever again."  
  
"How am I meant to do that? How am I meant to forget when I'm being questioned by the detectives? Being scorned by Fred for being a bad mother and letting a murderer into my home!"  
  
He shook his head, "You only let him in because you thought he honest to God needed your help, Faith. And Fred...he can go shove a stick up his ass because you weren't to know! You weren't to know," he repeated, his voice firm.  
  
"I should have!" she cried, more tears streaming down her cheeks. "That could have been Emily or Charlie, and not me..."  
  
Bosco stepped over to her, putting his arms around Faith as he pulled her into a hug. "You can't let yourself think like that, not ever..."  
  
She shook her head, "I'm supposed to look at a situation and decide the best course of action. And I didn't."  
  
"And you did, you let him in thinking he needed your help. Hell, any one of us would have done the same thing, even saint Fred."  
  
Faith closed her eyes tight, feeling his strong arms wrapped around her as she pressed her face to his shoulder. She didn't fight him any more on the subject, wanting to forget, even more now. When she finally found herself more relaxed in his arms, she gripped his shirt tightly in her hand, squeezing her eyes shut. "You won't leave me, will you?" she whispered, slowly opening her eyes as she let the tears listlessly flow from her eyes.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere," Bosco replied, promising as he gently stroked his hand through her hair.  
  
She closed her eyes once more, "Good...I don't want to be alone, Boz."  
  
"You won't be, I'll stay as long as you want me too," he said back, promise in his voice. "I'll take you away from all of this, Fred, the detectives, the media...for as long as you need to."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"I swear."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
**  
Later That afternoon**  
  
As Bosco's Mustang came to a stop just outside his uncle's cabin in upstate New York, he looked over at Faith who was nervously looking out her side window. "They brought this place when I was a kid. Dad wouldn't pay for summer vacation, so Mikey and I would come up here to stay, help out as best we could."  
  
Faith turned to look at him. "As long as it's quiet, and there's no questions..."  
  
"There won't be. It'll only be you and me, Uncle Walt is in Australia on some business trip," Bosco replied, reaching for the handle of his door and opening it.  
  
"He doesn't know we're staying here?"  
  
He turned back to her, "Well, I come up here every few weekends anyway, make sure everything's as it should be."  
  
"Bosco..."  
  
"Really, Faith...it's fine. He has money transferred into my account every third week or so for gas and worms."  
  
Faith blinked, confused, "Worms?"  
  
"Yeah, for fishing...there's a great basin up in the hill areas, maybe we'll do a spot of fishing while we're here..."  
  
She smiled faintly, "You can, I just want to sleep."  
  
Bosco smiled back, and motioned with his thumb to the trunk of the car. "I'll get our stuff," he told her, before climbing out, closing his doors it as he went.  
  
Faith sat there and let out a light breath, wondering if coming up here was the right thing to do. She hadn't told anyone she was leaving or where she was going, or for that matter, hadn't told her kids. Guilt flooded her mind, and she thought of Fred's words once again, though quickly shaking her head. Not wanting him to think he could have any kind of control over her by making her believe it was her own fault she was attacked and abducted from her home.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Stepping in through the front door of the cabin, Faith looked around her, taking in the smell of linseed and pine as she admired the wooden plaques on the walls of the large cabin. On the wall directly across from where she stood was a small kitchen area, just to the left of that was a bookshelf with none other than books on it. Taking a look further left, she saw the bed. The sole bed in this one room cabin. She turned to Bosco, who had just set the bags down beside her. "There's only one bed..." she told him, a certain pitch in her tone.  
  
Bosco looked at her then across to the far-left side of the cabin where the large kind sized bed was. He returned his gaze to meet hers; "I'll take the sofa."  
  
"That's a two seater, Boz."  
  
"Then I'll pull out a sleeping bag and crash on the floor."  
  
She shook her head slightly, "I couldn't make you do that. I will..."  
  
"No...and I won't argue with you on this, Faith," he stated, rising his hand in the pointing finger action he did when he was at his most serious moment. Then, he flashed her a grin and lifted the bags up off the ground by the handles and carried them across the room and set them down at the foot end of the bed.  
  
Having taken a step forward, Faith felt herself suddenly freeze, knowing with all certainty that the door behind her was open. Squeezing her eyes shut, fear rising up through every part of her, she let out a breath and slowly turned around when she let out a loud scream. Her heart pounding strongly in her chest. Doyle stood there, knife in his hands, green eyes glaring, jaw dropped slightly as he grinned evilly at her. "I'll always be there in your mind, Faith...you'll see me, and do you know why? Because Simon says!" He shouted, lunging at her.  
  
An ear piercing scream, and Faith quickly turned around in full, dropping to the ground and wrapping her arms around herself as she started rocking back and forth. "Get away from me! Get away!!" she cried, screaming again.  
  
By the time Bosco heard the first scream, he ran over and slammed the door shut and slid down beside Faith and tried to put his arm around her. But she shoved him away, screaming and lashing out at him. He took her arms by the wrists, trying to stop her, "It's me, Faith...it's me..." he told her, his own voice racked with fear for her.  
  
Faith shook her head, trying to pull free, when she heard him again; telling her it was okay. She closed her eyes tight, relaxing her arms in his grip as she wept. "He was there...he was there, Boz..."  
  
"No, he's not anywhere near you, Faith...you're safe...it's just you and me..."  
  
She looked up at him, tears flooding her eyes. "I saw him."  
  
"It was just fear..."  
  
"The door, it was open, and he was standing there...I saw him Bosco, I saw him...he was there, with a knife in his hands..."  
  
"It's okay, Faith...it's okay..." Bosco said gently, cradling her in his arms. "You're safe, he's not going to hurt you any more."  
  
She didn't say anything else, only cried there in his arms, cried for what seemed like forever. Her eyelids felt so heavy, her eyes ached, just like the rest of her. Mentally and physically exhausted, but she knew she couldn't sleep. The only reason she had done the night before was because the doctor prescribed a sedative and it had knocked her out. "I'm...so tired...Boz..."  
  
"I know..." he gently replied, rubbing her back. "Why don't you have a sleep while I put something together for dinner," he soon said, pulling away slightly to look at her.  
  
Faith sniffed, tear streaming down her cheek. "I couldn't sleep, even if I wanted to."  
  
"What if I sit with you? That way you know you're safe."  
  
She smiled faintly, "Could you?"  
  
He nodded. "I can do that."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Almost two hours had passed, and Faith had fallen asleep in the bed under the covers. Bosco looked down at her still body, chest rising and falling lightly with every breath. It pained him, knowing what Doyle had done to his partner and best friend. His eyes drifted shut and he could hear Doyle's maniacal voice hours after her actual abduction took place.  
  
'Simon says...yodel if you know Faith Yokas has a tattoo on her lower right back in the shape of a small red heart...'  
  
That was all he'd said, before laughing his head off, in the background the sound of a woman screaming. Faith, Bosco had painfully thought. Then came Doyle's angered voice, 'Shut up, bitch!!' and then a deadly silence as the phone went dead.  
  
Bosco had stood there, holding the receiver in his hands, knowing. Knowing with full regret and anger that the killer striking the Manhattan streets had abducted Faith. It was the same type of call the family of every abductee received. 'Simon says...' they all began, and he remembered in that moment standing there that he and Faith had worked a case going back seven years where a twenty something year old guy plagued the streets in a clown costume, robbing people that were using ATM's and coming out of banks. He was well known as Simon the Sayer, or better yet, Simon Reid Doyle. A petty theft with one of the top lawyers in the city.  
  
  
'You sure the file is in here?' Officer Ty Davis asked, looking over at Bosco, then casting a glance in his partner, John Sullivan's direction.  
  
'It should be,' Bosco replied, rummaging through a large box of case files down in the basement of the precinct. 'We have to get to this son of a bitch before he hurts Faith," he stated, anger fueling his voice.  
  
'We'll find him, the cops are searching everywhere, interviewing everyone and anyone,' Sully informed him, going through his own box.  
  
'I think this is it!' Ty exclaimed, removing a file from the box and quickly handing it to Bosco.  
  
He took the file gratefully and opened it. He scanned the first few lines, 'Son of a bitch!' he exclaimed, looking up at Sully.  
  
'It's him?'  
  
'It's him,' he replied. 'Son of a bitch killed his lawyer.'  
  
Ty's brow creased, 'It actually says that in there?'  
  
'No, but his lawyer died under suspicious circumstances four weeks ago...I remember reading his name in the paper, and it's the same guy. I bet my life on it.'  
  
'You think his death is connected to the others?'  
  
Bosco nodded, 'I'll bet he was the first. Sick bastard.'  
  
Sully nodded at the file, 'How is it going to help us find him? He won't be living at the same address.'  
  
'No, but...it falls true to his pattern, he kidnaps someone every four days. The last one was...Jack Edwards...we found his body a few hours befo...damnit!'  
  
'What?'  
  
'Before the call...fuck, why didn't we see it!'  
  
'See what?' Both officers asked.  
  
Bosco slammed the file down onto the table, then ran a hand through his hair as he thought. 'Every call that was placed was at the same time of night, the abductions all took place at the same time...the coroner always placed the time of death for the victims at least three hours before the bastard would ring and tells us where to find the bodies.'  
  
'So how long do we have then?' Ty asked, looking fearfully over at Sully, who shared the same grim expression.  
  
'Not quite seventy-two hours,' Bosco replied, heading out of the basement and up the stairs that led to the above level of the precinct. The other two followed behind him and he turned around just after he walked out the door, almost knocking into another officer. 'He's been dropping hints with every kill, burger wrappings, receipts, tickets...we can find this guy.'  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Faith's eyes slowly drifted open, a dreamless sleep had encompassed her and for that split moment she thought she was back home, none of the memories of the days past in her mind. And then it hit her, a sudden jolt of fear when she realized she wasn't in her own bed, her chest felt incredibly heavy and she closed her eyes again, forcing more tears from her eyes. Asking herself why, why did she have to remember? Why couldn't she just wake up to a new life where nothing bad had ever happened to her?  
  
"Hey sleeping beauty," she heard Bosco's gentle voice and she opened her eyes once more, thankful that he was there with her. She turned over slowly, pain in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Have a good sleep?" He asked her.  
  
Slowly, Faith nodded, surprise inside her to know that he had been there, protecting her that whole time. "How long did I sleep for?" she very quietly asked, turning over onto her left side, too afraid to stay on her back.  
  
"Eight hours," he replied.  
  
"What?" she groggily asked, unsure she'd heard right.  
  
Bosco brushed the hair out of her face, smiling warmly. "You must have really needed it."  
  
Faith smiled faintly and sat up, "What time is it?"  
  
"Just on quarter past eleven," he replied, "You snored something wicked, too," he teased, laughing. She chuckled; though a little surprised she had done so. "You feeling up to eating something?"  
  
She shook her head, "I wouldn't be able to keep it down."  
  
He nodded, though worried how sick she'd get if she continued on not eating anything. "You feeling better now though?"  
  
"A little...everything...still hurts...but," she swallowed, smiling faintly. "I feel better knowing you're here with me."  
  
"I want you to know I'm always here for you, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise," he said softly, touching the side of her face, gently caressing her cheek.  
  
Still smiling faintly, Faith closed her eyes at the tenderness of his touch. She kept her eyes shut for a few moments, before slowly opening them again. "You don't know how much that means to me, Boz."  
  
He just smiled. There was a silence, and Bosco slowly removed his hand, though still holding her in his eyes.  
  
"Hey Boz?" She asked quietly, he nodded, raising his eyebrows slightly. "I ah...really...need to go...pee..."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"That was the outhouse we saw earlier? Attached to the side of the cabin?" Anxiety in her voice, wishing that the toilet could be reached without having to go outside.  
  
Bosco nodded, "Yeah. But don't worry, it's not a long drop or anything, plus there's a light in there."  
  
She paused, swallowing, "You'll come with me? Waiting outside?" she quietly asked, looking directly at him, hope in her voice.  
  
"I will," he replied, nodding.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered, getting a soft smile back from him.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
His navy blue NYPD sweatshirt on, Bosco stood outside the door of the cabin, attempting to turn on the only flashlight he'd been able to find in his uncle's cabin. With it finally on, he shone it about him to test the visibility of it.  
  
"I'm ready," Faith said behind him. He turned around instantly to see her standing in the doorway warmly dressed in the olive green padded flannel shirt he had given her to wear. She pulled the door closed behind her, and stepped up to his side.  
  
Shining the flashlight left along the gravel path, they walked several meters until they reached the small outhouse situated two or three feet away from the cabin. Opening the door, Bosco shone the light inside first, before reaching his arm around the corner and flicked the light switch. Instantly the small 'room' lit up and Faith let out a sigh, relieved to see a normal 'flush' toilet standing against the back wall, a full roll of toilet paper on the holder on the left side of the small hut.  
  
He stepped back, smiling slightly, "I'll wait right out here," he promised.  
  
"Thanks," she quietly replied, taking in a breath before stepping into the latrine. She closed the door behind her, standing in front of the toilet. Her eyes closed, and she quietly thanked God once again that Bosco was there, waiting for her outside the door.  
  
Moments later, she emerged from the outhouse, turning off the light and closing the door behind her. A rising fear instantly setting in when she couldn't see Bosco anywhere. "Bosco?" She called his name in a loud whisper, panic in her voice.  
  
"I'm here," came his voice from the back of the outhouse, "Just taking a leak," he continued.  
  
Faith instantly felt the tightness in her chest ease as he returned a short few moments later, busy zipping up his fly. "Sorry," he smiled at her through the darkness, turning on the flashlight once more.  
  
"Don't," she said, reaching over and turning the switch off on the flashlight, a change in her voice. "Look," she said, nodding up toward the sky with her chin.  
  
Bosco turned around on his feet, his gaze lifting to the sky. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, smiling sideways at Faith.  
  
She nodded, "It is. You don't get to see this...not in the city, and never like this...there has to be...millions of stars up there. More, even."  
  
"Billions, I'd say," he replied, taking a step back so he was standing slightly behind Faith. "There's something I have to show you."  
  
She lowered her gaze, turning to him, "What?"  
  
"You'll see," Bosco grinned, gently taking her by the hand and leading her back the other way, to the other side of the cabin, before turning right and heading along a path surrounded by bush. Anxiety surging through her, he felt Faith clutch onto his hand tighter, only releasing it when they reached the end of the long row of bushes and an awe filled view could be seen, stretching for what felt like miles north of where they stood.  
  
"Oh my god..." Faith exclaimed, breathless as she took two steps forward, releasing their interlocked fingers as she watched the night blue skies reflecting down onto the glistening water. Reflections of the moon, the paler blue mist it seemed to send off at its edges. She turned back to Bosco, smiling. "This is...so beautiful."  
  
He stepped up to her side, gently wrapping his arm around her waist and guided her down a small slope and stopped at the water's edge. "I used to come here all the time as a kid at night...I'd sit on a rock just up the bank there. I'd pretend like I was the only person on an alien planet, seeing it all for the first time," he turned his head to face Faith, smiling.  
  
"That's not hard to imagine," Faith replied, slipping her arm around Bosco's waist and leaning up against him, her head resting on his shoulder. "Being somewhere no one else had ever been before."  
  
Bosco could hear the pain in her voice, and inwardly cursed. He turned his head to look down at her, "What...when you were in there, did he..."  
  
Faith closed her eyes tight, chest tightening and she could feel a sob rising inside her as tears slid down her cheeks. "A lot of bad stuff happened in there," she replied, feeling Doyle's hands crawling over her bare stomach before punching her. Repeatedly. She bit her lower lip, slowly opening her eyes. A part of her remembering the relief she could feel herself begging for as he hit her, pulled her hair, kicked her...then came the many times he knocked her into the wall, sending her to the ground, unconscious.  
  
Bosco swallowed hard, looking at the reflective lake surface. "He rape you?" he quietly asked, the acidic taste of bile in his mouth.  
  
"No," she just as quietly replied, looking directly at him. "He never raped me."  
  
"Good," he replied, the word coming out in a not quite suppressed sob. Sob of relief.  
  
She looked out over the lake again, body shivering in the cold. "That's not why why he took me...the other women," she swallowed in thought, guilt inside her for the other woman he'd abducted. The one's he'd savagely raped. "He didn't."  
  
"You'd tell me...if he did."  
  
Faith looked up at him, "You know I would," she promised. A part of her heart rejoicing that he cared as much as he did, but why, that's why she didn't understand. Yes, she'd been through something horrific, but this was Bosco. In all the years she'd known him, he'd never been this...protective. Or wanting to be. She let her gaze fall to his lips, another part of her wondering if he was so protective for reasons other than their friendship.  
  
  
I know you, don't I? She asked in her mind.  
  
He shifted his gaze from the heavens above and looked over at her, his eyes reflecting the love she suddenly knew she held for him, "Yes," he replied, "You do."  
  
She gave him a smile, "And, I love you"  
  
"Just like I do you." He whispered back.  
  
  
She blinked, lifting her gaze to his blue eyes. Though it was dark, she could see the warmth ins his eyes as he looked back at her, and Faith took in a small slow breath. "I love you, Bosco" she whispered, swallowing hard as he moved his head slightly. As if shocked by her words. It was the truth, she did love him. Not as a friend. Not as a best friend. As more than that. Embarrassed when he didn't say anything back, that shocked look still on his face, she stepped out of his arms, pulling away as she took off back along the trail the way they'd come.  
  
She didn't let herself stop running for even a moment, not when the pain on the soles of her feet felt like they were about to rip apart, not when Bosco called out to her when he chased after her. She hated herself, feeling like she'd committed a great wrong. She just wanted to get away from it, get away from the rejection she'd seen in his eyes.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Bosco opened the door to the cabin and looked inside, the light had been turned off and he knew Faith was crying over by the bed. He could hear her sobs, muffled as if trying to be as quiet as possible so that he couldn't hear. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him and headed toward the bed. "Faith?" He quietly asked, but she only sobbed harder.  
  
"Leave me alone," Faith cried. She sat against the head board of the bed, her arms around her knees as she held them against her chest. She could hear Bosco's footsteps as he approached, could see his silouhette through her blurred vision as he removed the jacket he wore and sat down on the bed at her feet. Tossing the jacket to the floor. "Please, just leave me alone," she begged, more tears coming as she cried into her hand.  
  
"No, I won't, Faith."  
  
"Go away!" She shouted, another aching sob coming out.  
  
"No," Bosco replied, his voice still so calm. "I'm not going to leave."  
  
"Just leave me alone," Faith cried, looking away from him, tears falling her face and onto the white top she wore, having removed the flannel shirt when she came running inside moments ago.  
  
"You have to talk to me," he said, reaching out to touch her arm when she pulled away. "Please Faith, don't shut me out. Not now."  
  
She leant her head back against the wall, "I'm sorry, I've ruined everything."  
  
Bosco moved closer to her, right up by her side. "You haven't ruined anything," he said gently, placing his hand over hers.  
  
She closed her eyes tightly, forcing the tears out as she shook her head. "I have," she whispered.  
  
"What? By telling me you love me?" She nodded. "Don't think that...because, Faith..." he whispered back, turning her head to look at him. "I love you too."  
  
Faith stared at him, a little startled. She never thought in her wildest dreams he'd love her back, let alone ever utter those four words back to her. "You do?" she asked as he started to lean closer to her, he nodded, and she could feel her heart starting to race in her chest. Don't let this be a dream, don't let this be a dream, she told herself as his lips touched hers and her eyes instantly drifted shut. She was surprised by the gentleness in the way he kissed her, the way he captured her lips with his mouth, and when the kiss ended, she sat there, looking back into his eyes. Not wanting him to stop. And as if reading her mind, he leaned over and placed his lips against hers once more.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
the end ;)  
  



End file.
